Draft:Kouretes
| Kouretes | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Genealogy | |
| Parents | Dorus / Hecaterus and daughter of Phoroneus (Hesiod) |
| Siblings | Satyrs and Oreads (Hesiod) |
The Kouretes, in the Ancient Greek religion and mythology, are a group of divinities primarily associated with the infancy of Zeus, the King of the Gods and Heaven, where they acted as his guardians.
In mythology, the Kouretes' primary tale describes them as guardians of the infant Zeus; they performed war dances and banged their weapons on their shields to drown out his cries and prevent his father Cronus from hearing the child.
In cult, the Kouretes were linked to Zeus and oftentimes treated as fertility deities, with their cult being widespread in Crete, Zeus' birthplace. Outside of Crete, cults dedicated to the Kouretes could be found across the Greek world.
The Kouretes were often conflated or syncretized with other similar groups in both mythology and cult activities. The group they were most heavily linked with being the Korybantes, attendants of the Phrygian goddess Cybele.
Mythology and literature
[edit]General overview
[edit]The Kouretes are traditionally depicted as a youthful[1] group of deities — alternatively described as daimons, spirits, or "minor Cretan divinities"[2][3] — that were the attendants of the Titaness Rhea and helped her hide her son Zeus from his father Cronus. After Rhea gave birth to the child, she (or Gaia)[2] took Zeus and hid him inside a cave in Crete, located either at Dikte or Mount Ida.[4][5] The Kouretes performed a war dance and clashed their weapons against their shields at the cave's entrance to conceal the baby's cries and and prevent Cronus from hearing them.[6][7][8] The group's number, their names, and genealogy varies from one source to the other.[9] According to Edward Tripp there are three primary myths involving the Kouretes, with one of them being their guardianship of Zeus. The two other myths include their encounter with King Minos of Crete, giving him advice, and their abduction of the infant Epaphus from Io at Hera's request.[10]
Archaic era
[edit]In the Hesiod's Theogony (8th century BC), while the infancy of Zeus is discussed — with his mother Rhea hiding him in Crete — no mention is made of the Kouretes across the entire poem.[11][12][8] Despite their absence in the Theogony, Hesiod was aware of the group.[8] In his fragmentary poem the Catalogue of Women — the group's earliest appearance[13] — the Kouretes are identified as descendants of Dorus. The poem describes a daughter of Phoroneus marrying a man, either Dorus himself or Hecaterus, and giving birth to five daughters. Those daughters in turn gave birth to the Kouretes, alongside the satyrs and the Oreads (mountain nymphs).[14][15][16][13][4] The text describes the Kouretes as dancing, playful figures,[17][8] and while they are divine beings, they are acknowledged as lesser to the gods.[13] According to academics Apostolos Athanassakis and Benjamin M. Wolkow, their connection to the satyrs and Oreads in the Catalogue of Women suggests that the Kouretes already had an association with Dionysian figures.[8]
The poet and seer Epimenides (7th-6th century BC) was among the earliest individuals to write about the Kouretes, having composed an account of their birth (alongside the Korybantes) that, in conjunction with his Theogony, amounted to 5.000 lines.[18] The epic poem Phoronis (7th-6th century BC), focused on the hero Phoroneus and his descendants. In Phoronis, the Kouretes are described as Phrygians and musicians that play the flute; the Dactyls, originating from Mount Ida, are also descended from Phoroneus. The poem has been described as an example of the syncretism between the Kouretes and Korybantes — the attendants of Cybele — who are usually placed in Phrygia, while the Kouretes are situated in Crete.[19][17][20] The poet Corinna wrote about the infancy of Zeus in "Contest of Cithaeron and Helicon"; in a departure from Hesiod's narrative, she includes the Kouretes and describes them as helping hide the infant from his father Cronus.[21] The exact time period she lived in is uncertain, but if she is dated to the archaic period, this would make her among the earliest writers to recognize the Kouretes' existence.[6]
Classical era
[edit]The playwright Euripides (c. 480 – c. 406 BC) references the Kouretes in the play The Bacchae (405 BC), where the chorus sings of their presence in the cave where Zeus was born, and how the group danced to the beat of drums and auloi; academic Timothy Gantz notes that the text does not specify if the dance and music, particularly the drums, were used to specifically drown out Zeus' cries. The Bacchae depicts the Korybantes as also being present during Zeus' birth and that they invented the drum, which was then passed down to Rhea; afterwards, it was stolen by satyrs, being used in Dionysian rituals.[11][22] Academic Timothy Gantz argues that the identification between the Kouretes and Korybantes was due to the syncretism of Rhea and Cybele.[11] It has been noted that the play also links the Kouretes with the bacchae / maenads, who are the attendants of Dionysus; both groups are depicted as ecstatic dancers, and Zeus is Dionysus' father.[20]
Outside of The Bacchae, Euripides also references the Kouretes in his lost tragedy the Cretans, linking them to Zeus of Mount Ida, Zagreus, and the "mountain mother".[6] A fragment from the Cretans also suggests that an initiatory ritual involving the Kouretes existed that was Orphic in nature.[8] Scholar Walter Burkert highlights that the reference Euripides makes to the Kouretes as the "mystai [priests] of Idaean Zeus", may not be an accurate representation of their cult but a form of "poetic imagination".[23] Another one of Euripides' lost plays, Hypsipyle, describes the Kouretes as being mortal.[11]
Hellenistic and Roman eras
[edit]The "Hymn to Zeus" by Callimachus (c. 310 – c. 240 BC) contains the first explicit depiction of the Kouretes as the guardians of Zeus during his infancy,[13] and the first instance of them clashing their armor and weapons to hide his cries.[24] Despite this, it has been argued that the tradition of the Kouretes guarding the infant Zeus is even older; it is alluded to in Euripides' Bacchae.[13] Strabo (64 or 63 BC – c. 24 AD) recounts a myth of the group guarding Leto's children — Artemis and Apollo — from Hera's wrath.[4] The Roman poet Hyginus recounts in the Fabulae (1st century BC–1st century AD) the Kouretes' noisemaking to hide Zeus.[6]
In the Bibliotheca (1st-2nd century AD), by Apollodorus/Pseudo-Apollodorus, a myth in which the Kouretes abduct the infant Epaphus, a son of Zeus, from his mother Io at Here's behest. For this transgression, Zeus killed them.[10][25] This myth has been recognized as being "curious" and that the Kouretes' role in it seems "ill-suited" given their traditional position as Zeus' guardians. Scholars have argued that the group was likely being syncretized with another one of Egyptian origin and that this was not part of their traditional mythology; it has been noted that Io's search for Epaphus evokes Isis' search for Osiris.[13][26] Another tale recounts King Minos going to the Kouretes for advice on finding his lost son Glaucus, depicting the group as oracular divinities.[10][13] The geographer Pausanias (c. 110 – c. 180), in Description of Greece, describes the Kouretes as being identical to the Dactyls and that the group consisted of five brothers; Heracles, Paeonaeus, Epimedes, Iasius, and Idas.[27]
Origin and etymology
[edit]Origins and etymology (Oxford Classical Dictionary)
[edit]The name of the Kouretes is identical to the word "kouroi", and they were the male equivalent of the nymphs, who were also known as "Kourai".[4]
Origin/Cult (The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology)
[edit]Excavations have shown that in Crete, multiple cave-sanctuaries were holy sites that dated all the way to the Minoan civilization; the dance of the Kouretes can be linked to the dances performed by male youths during initiation rituals.[3]
Origin and etymology (The Orphic Hymns)
[edit]Their name means "youths".[8]
Origin (Crowell's Handbook of Classical Mythology)
[edit]The Kouretes were likely influenced by the practise of young Cretans performing war dances in honor of a young Zeus.[10]
Origins (Greek Religion)
[edit]The bronze shields found in the Idaean Cave from the Orientalizing period attest to an initiation festival from the 8th century BC, akin to the myth of the Kouretes.[28]
Cult
[edit]Cult (Brill's New Pauly)
[edit]Zeus' cult on Mount Dikte worshipped him as a beardless figure, who is referred to as "mégistos koũros" in the Hellenistic hymn dedicated to him at Palaiokastro.[1]
At the cave in Mount Ida, bronze shield and drums dating to the Orientalizing period have been found. The discovery of these items indicates that the annual dance celebrating Zeus' birth in Crete was being performed as early as the archaic period by a group of young males ("koûroi") which would explain the etymology of the mythological Kouretes.[1]
According to the Hymn to Dictaean Zeus, the Kouretes were associated with domestic wealth and public welfare. The Hymn itself asks Zeus to leap into cities, ships, harvest and herds to bring forth fertility and wealth, also describing him as the leader of the group.[29]
The cult of the Kouretes as described in the Dictaean Hymn, being the guaranteers of oaths and protectors of herds, was widespread across Crete; it is unclear if their cult and initiatory rituals in other areas had a similar character.[29]
In Messenia, burnt offering were made to the Kouretes, which indicates a status as fertility figures.[29]
In Euboea, they were identified with the Cyclopes and inventors of brass weapons.[29]
In Olympia, their cult was associated with a local Diktaian cave.[29]
The cult of the Kouretes found in Anatolia, particularly in the regions of Ionia and Caria, was the "most remarkable" one to be found outside of Crete; of great importance was the city of Ephesus. Here, the Kouretes are instead depicted as protecting the children of Leto—Artemis and Apollo—from the wrath of Hera.[29]
Thera provides one of the earliest-known locales with a cult dedicated to them.[29]
Cult (Oxford Classical Dictionary)
[edit]The "Hymn to Dictaean Zeus" describes the Curetes as daimones and Zeus, the "megistor Kouros", as leading them up to Mount Ida.[4]
Their dancing was associated with fertility and promoted the growth of crops and flocks, akin to that of Zeus in the Dictaean Hymn.[9]
In the Idaean Cave, bronze shield from the 8th–6th centuries have been found, suggests that young men (kouroi) performed annual war dances that acted as an initiation ritual for male youths; the dances re-enacted the birth and death of Zeus.[30]
Cult (The Orphic Hymns)
[edit]The Kouretes had cultic activity in Crete.[8]
The "Hymn to Dictaean Zeus" discovered at Palaiokastro describes Zeus as the "greatest kouros" asks him to help usher in fertility for the new year; specifically, he is asked to "leap into" the animals, fields, and homes of the people to bring fertility and wealth.[8]
Supposedly, Pythagoras became an initiate of their cult at Mount Ida, entering the tomb of Zeus where he supposedly died and was reborn every spring.[8]
Cult (Greek Religion)
[edit]In Messene, a festival was held in honour of the Kouretes that involved the sacrifice of animals in a ritualistic fire.[31]
In the Dictaean Zeus hymn, young men call upon Zeus, who is described as the greatest Kouros, to "sprin in" flocks, fields, towns, and ships.[28]
Burkert argues that the dancing jumps performed by the youths is where "this power of [Zeus] is present".[28]
Hymn to Dictaean Zeus (The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology)
[edit]The Palaiokastro hymn to Zeus, likely from the 4th century BC, the chorus invites Zeus to return to his birthplace and "leap", bringing fertily and prosperity to the island's fields, livestock, and cities.[13]
Cult & Dictaean Zaus (Greek Religion)
[edit]The bronze shields found in the Idaean Cave from the Orientalizing period attest to an initiation festival from the 8th century BC, akin to the myth of the Kouretes.[28]
Burkett recognizes that this myth mirrors the initiation rituals found in the mysteries of Ida; in these mysteries, Zeus was born anew every year in the "glow of a great fire".[32]
The Dictaean Hymn describes Zeus as the greatest Kouros who jumps on fields, flocks, towns, houses, ships, and young citizens.[32]
A cult group of young warriors met at the cave of Mount Ida, partaking in a war dance and brandishing shields, dated to the Orientalizing period.[33]
In this annual ceremony, the birth of Zeus is celebrated with a large fire.[33]
Zeus also dies every year and is buried by the Kouretes, only to be reborn.[33]
Concerning the hymn, real youths partook in a dance, inviting Zeus to join and summoning him to bring prosperity.[33]
It's noted that the hymn does not state if the boys alter or dramatize their status in the festival.[33] Burkert speculates that it would have been important for a boy to be accepted into this circle, and that initiates could not have remained for many years.[33]
Orphism
[edit]Orphism (The Orphic Hymns)
[edit]in Orphic Hymn #38, the Kouretes are conflated with the Korybantes, the Dioscuri (Kastor and Polydeuces), and the mystery cult of Samothrace.[34]
Orphism (The Orphic Hymns)
[edit]The Kouretes appear in various texts associated with Orphism. One fragment depicts them as guardians of Dionysus, evoking their role as Zeus' protectors, although they do not attempt to hide the infact and fail in their role to protect him from the Titans.[35]
Other writings have them guarding the infant Persephone instead.[35]
Some text depict Athena as their leader, sometimes helping them guard the infant Dionysus.[35]
The second "Hymn to the Kouretes" syncretizes them with the Samothracean gods and the Dioscuri; these groups were initially independent, but were often conflated with each other (140). It is noted that the name of the Dioscuri is linguistically connected to the Kouretes.[36]
Orphism (Ritual Texts for the Afterlife)
[edit]Within Orphism, the oldest complete tale of Dionysus comes from the 6th century Neoplatonist Olympiodorus.[37]
In Orphic theogony, the Kouretes acted as the guardians of Dionysus. The Titans used toys and a mirror to lure the infant away from them, proceeding to dismember, cook, and eat him.[38]
According to the Orphic myth, the Kouretes helped raise Dionysus in Crete.[39]
A 3rd-century BC papyrus from Gurub, describing a Greek cult in Ptolemaic Egypt. The papyrus is likely a ritualistic text rather than a theoretical one. In it, the Kouretes are the attendants of Rhea-Cybele and perform a war dance around baby Zeus.[40]
In the Orphic Hymns, the Kouretes are syncretized with the Samothracean divine duo and inventors of their mystery rituals.[41]
Syncretism
[edit]Korybantes
[edit]The Greeks regularly conflated the Kouretes with the Korybantes, Cybele's attendants.[42][34] Rhea herself was often syncretized with Cybele in both cult practises and mythological narrative, which led to their individual attendants also being identified with each other.[43][22] It has been noted that both the Kouretes and Korybantes share certain traits — both participate in wild dancing and dwell in mountains — that helped facilitate their conflation.[8] Gantz notes that while there is a clear connection between the Kouretes and Korybantes, exactly when and how they came to be syncretized is uncertain. Outside of Pherecydes of Syros (6th century BC) referring to the Korybantes as the children of Apollo and the nymph Rhetia, no other reference to them from the archaid period survives.[44]
Other
[edit]The identification of the Kouretes with the Korybantes and Cabeiri, as well as their association with the Cult of Dionysus, indicates that an orgiastic element was present in these initiatory war dances.[30]
The Kouretes were also associated with the Dactyls. According to Hellanikos, the Dactyls met Rhea on Mount Ida, which helped facilitate the group's establishment in Crete and the Troad; Pausanias describes the Dactyls as being the same as the Kouretes, with Rhea giving Zeus to them.[45]
Other
[edit]Cretan Theogony(?) (Oxford Classical Dictionary)
[edit]According to a Cretan inscription, the Curetes and Nymphs acted as joint witnesses to oaths.[4]
Myth with Amalthea (The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology)
[edit]Another account has the nymph Amalthea hang Zeus inside a cradle that was hanging on a tree branch, with the Kouretes dancing around it.[3]
Cult(?) (The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology)
[edit]The mythological role and behaviour of the Kouretes was linked with Cretan ritualistic practices.[3]
It has often been speculated that their mythological role of the Kouretes is a reflection of annual rites held in Crete that involved young men dancing.[13]
Literature (that legendary figure?) (Greek Religion)
[edit]In a Cretan, post-Hesiodic Theogony the Kouretes are described as a group of young warriors, who drowned out the cries of Zeus by dancing and banging their shields.[32]
Callimachus(?) (Greek Religion)
[edit]According to a Hellenistic writer, when Zeus is born anew every year at the Idaean Cave, a "great fire and foaming blood" are present.[23]
Iconography (Ritual Texts for the Afterlife)
[edit]An ivory pyxis from the 5th or 6th century, housed in the Museo Civico Archeologico di Bologna, depicts an infant Dionysus sitting on a throne, surrounded by the dancing Kouretes; a robed female figure, likely Hera, looms over him.[46]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 Graf 2003, para. 2.
- 1 2 Tripp 1970, p. 178.
- 1 2 3 4 Hard 2004, p. 75.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rose & Dietrich 2003, p. 413.
- ↑ Graf 2003, para. 1.
- 1 2 3 4 Gantz 1993, p. 42.
- ↑ Hard 2004, pp. 75 & 219.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Athanassakis & Wolkow 2013, p. 127.
- 1 2 Rose & Dietrich 2003, pp. 413–14.
- 1 2 3 4 Tripp 1970, p. 179.
- 1 2 3 4 Gantz 1993, p. 148.
- ↑ Hard 2004, p. 204.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Hard 2004, p. 219.
- ↑ Tripp 1970, pp. 178–799.
- ↑ West 1985, p. 59.
- ↑ Gantz 1993, pp. 135.
- 1 2 Gantz 1993, p. 147.
- ↑ Gantz 1993, pp. 42 & 147.
- ↑ West 1985, p. 4.
- 1 2 Graf 2003, para. 4.
- ↑ Vergados 2012, p. 109.
- 1 2 Athanassakis & Wolkow 2013, p. 103.
- 1 2 Burkert 1985, p. 280.
- ↑ Gantz 1993, p. 42 & 148.
- ↑ Hard 2004, pp. 219 & 232.
- ↑ Hard 2004, pp. 231–32.
- ↑ Tripp 1970, p. 185.
- 1 2 3 4 Burkert 1985, p. 102.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Graf 2003, para. 3.
- 1 2 Rose & Dietrich 2003, p. 414.
- ↑ Burkert 1985, p. 63.
- 1 2 3 Burkert 1985, p. 127.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Burkert 1985, p. 262.
- 1 2 Athanassakis & Wolkow 2013, p. 71.
- 1 2 3 Athanassakis & Wolkow 2013, p. 128.
- ↑ Athanassakis & Wolkow 2013, p. 141.
- ↑ Graf & Johnston, p. 66.
- ↑ Graf & Johnston, p. 67.
- ↑ Graf & Johnston, p. 82.
- ↑ Graf & Johnston, pp. 150–51.
- ↑ Graf & Johnston, p. 150.
- ↑ Tripp 1970, p. 172.
- ↑ Hard 2004, p. 218.
- ↑ Gantz 1993, pp. 147–48.
- ↑ Gantz 1993, pp. 148–49.
- ↑ Graf & Johnston, pp. 152–53.
Books
[edit]- Athanassakis, Apostolos; Wolkow, Benjamin M. (2013). The Orphic Hymns. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 9781421408828.
- Burkert, Walter (1985). Greek Religion. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0674362810.
- Gantz, Timothy (1993). Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 080184410X.
- Graf, Fritz (2003). "Curetes". In Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth (eds.). Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World. Antiquity, Volume 3, Cat – Cyp. Brill. ISBN 9004122664.
- Graf, Fritz; Johnston, Sarah Iles (2007). Ritual Texts for the Afterlife: Orpheus and the Bacchic Gold Tablets. Routledge. ISBN 0415312728.
- Hard, Robin (2004). Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology. Routledge. ISBN 020344633X.
- Rose, Herbert Jennings; Dietrich, B. C. (2003). "Curetes". In Hornblower, Simon; Spawforth, Antony (eds.). Oxford Classical Dictionary. Oxford University Press. pp. 413–14. ISBN 0198606419.
- Tripp, Edward (1970). Crowell's Handbook of Classical Mythology. Thomas Y. Crowell Co. ISBN 069022608X.
- West, Martin Litchfield (1985). The Hesiodic Catalogue of Women: Its Nature, Structure, and Origins. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198140347.
Journals
[edit]- Vergados, Athanassios (2012). "Corinna's Poetic Mountains: PMG 654 col. i 1–34 and Hesiodic Reception". Classical Philology. 107 (2): 101–118. doi:10.1086/664026. S2CID 162346852.